Studies on fungi associated with pea seeds and their effect on germination and some seed characters [electronic resource]

Includes bibliographic reference

Seed borne fungi of 45 pea seed samples of Master-B cultivar were examined. These
samples were collected from main production area of Egypt. A total number of 28 species,
representing 19 genera of fungi was isolated and identified from pea seeds. The agar plate method was
more accurate for detection of the most associated seed borne fungi compared with blotter method.
Test tube agar method of 50 seeds from each of Master-B, Entsar 1, Entsar 2 and Sugar gum cultivars
revealed incidence of 10 species, representing 8 fungi genera. These fungi were isolated from different
seedling parts. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine seed borne fungi in dry seed
surface of two pea cultivars Cambados (curly) and Oregon sugar (smooth).The curly cultivar hosted
more fungi than the smooth one. Six categories of discoloration pea seeds were investigated using agar
plate method. A total of 27 species, representing 19 genera were isolated and identified from pea seeds
with different color categories. The effect of discoloration on seed characters and germination were
examined. Discoloration of deteriorated seeds was associated with decreased total protein, total
phenols, weight of 1000 dry seeds and seed germination percentages comparing with healthy ones. On
the contrary, moisture contents in healthy seeds recorded lower percent compared with all
discoloration seed categories and insect infection.

Summary in Arabic